Blowing past tolls in Md. but never forced to pay

GAITHERSBURG, Md. – Toll road cheaters are not just blowing through the E-ZPass lanes, they’re skating by without paying the penalty.

The Washington Post reports that Maryland isn’t doing much to crack the whip on thousands of drivers, and that leaves millions of dollars in unpaid tolls.

About 15,000 individual vehicle owners are shrugging off charges of at least $500, the Post reports. But drivers who slide by the toll lanes haven’t felt the wrath of the state. The Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration hasn’t suspended a single car registration on the basis of toll cheating in more than two years.

And the debts are piling up.

Nearly 650,000 vehicle owners owe about $6.7 million in unpaid tolls over the last five years.

One car rental company alone owes the state more than $200,000 in unpaid tolls and penalties. It has received almost 7,000 letters over four years, the Post reports.